BYK and BASF are Leading Players in Coating Additives Market

The global coating additives market is matured and diversified with most companies offering different types of coating additives, which offer a wide range of applicability in different end-user industries. The acrylic and urethane-based coating additives are estimated to have a major share in the coating market. The companies engaged in the production of these additives are BYK-Chemie, BASF, Arkema, Dow Chemical, AkzoNobel, Elementis, and Evonik Industries. The coating additives are used in very small quantities in the formulation of paints and powder coatings, because they are designed to target a specific function or property of the formulation. However, the current trend is shifting towards multifunctional coating additives, which would further decrease the additives’ content in the formulation.

The major global companies operating in coating additives market are U.S.-based Ashland, Dow Chemical, Cytec, Cabot, Eastman, and Lubrizol, The Netherland-headquartered AkzoNobel, U.K.-based Elementis PLC, and BYK-Chemie, BASF, and Evonik from Germany. The companies are consistently focusing on launching of new and improved coating additives which are efficient in their intended functions and also help the formulators to meet the environmental regulatory standards. Hence, companies such as BASF SE (Germany) have recently launched a dispersing agent, which is APEO-free and has been especially designed to provide superior color acceptance to the substrate. Evonik Industries has also responded to the growing demand for multifunctional additives by launching an additive which provides the function of both wetting and dispersing.

Capactiy expansion is the second most adopted strategy followed by the companies. Under this strategy, the companies are not only focusing on increasing their production capactities for additives, but are also increasing their geographic presence in the coating additives market. To expand its production capacity, Dow Chemcial (U.S.), intends to expand its dispersant product line, in response to growing demand by customers across the globe. While, Momentive Specialty has opened a new plant for manufacturing company’s polyamide category of curing agent in Tianjin (China). These agents can be used in a system that requires higher chemical resistance, high solid content and low temperature cure.

BYK-Chemie and BASF are the top two players with each having market share in double digit. The other players holding significant share in market are Dow Chemical, Arkema, and AkzoNobel. In this market, players are mainly focusing on the development of high performance products that supports a sustainable environment. The threat of new entrants is, however, not a serious issue for this market. The tightening environmental regulations and restraints faced by paint and coating industries are refraining the entry of new players in this market. On the other hand, development of environment-friendly formulation and multifunctional additives are creating opportunities for new players to enter the market.